The Stark Raving Viking

Friday, April 27, 2007

Political Surveillance

If you are critical of police or the judiciary and/or propose laws to the legislature in Connecticut, a citizen can be put under surveillance.

Ken Krayeske [more], a campaign manager for Rell’s rival in the last election was placed under surveillance being on the Connecticut State Police Secret “Enemies List”.

Being placed under surveillance means arrest. Arrests in Connecticut often end up in convictions as most trials and proceeding are fixed, racist, and unfair.

Citizens are being put in prisons held as political prisoners, what are members of the Connecticut Judiciary Committee going to do to help victims of the Connecticut Courts and Connecticut State Police that were wrongly convicted and falsely imprisoned?

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Let's hope Bush Co going down mirrors Blair Co

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will step down on May 9th, reports the Sunday Mail.

The decision, according to the paper, was made to preempt any charges in the "cash for honors" scandal.

"That will trigger a seven-week leadership election process in the Labour Party and a new PM – probably Gordon Brown – will move into 10 Downing Street at the end of June," writes Rob Gibson.

The Crown Prosecution Service is unlikely to make a decision about whether to bring criminal charges against some of Blair's aides for allegedly taking kickbacks, despite ample evidence to do so, until Blair leaves office, according to the paper.

The Mail quotes an anonymous Labour MP who says that Blair will leave office on May 9th, as the Northern Ireland Executives take power.

"He wants to go out on a high note, not wait around to hear if or when the CPS are going to prosecute any of his friends," the MP is quoted. "That would be the worst possible way to bow out."

Blair's heir-apparent, Chancellor Gordon Brown, would be expected to take power in June.

While most are in agreement that Brown will be Blair's successor as Prime Minister, there is disagreement over what Brown will bring to Downing Street.

"Conservatives have been busy over the last few years predicting that Brown will swing Labour to the left, ushering in a period of business-unfriendly, bureaucratic centralization," notes the Press Association, even though Brown has voiced support for nuclear power, nuclear weapons as a deterrent, and calls for a "Britishness day."

Unplugged McCain sings 'bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran'

Moscow's suburb for billionaires

Most people in Britain are now familiar with the scruffy, boyish and invariably unshaven features of Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea football club, and Russia's most famous billionaire.

Roman Abramovich is Russia's most famous billionaire

This week we learned that Mr Abramovich is one of a growing list of hyper-rich Russians.

According to Forbes magazine Russia now has 60 billionaires.

Unlike Mr Abramovich, most of them live in Moscow, which, if I'm not much mistaken, makes the Russian capital home to more billionaires than any other city in the world.

It is quite a change for a place that 15 years ago had no millionaires, let alone billionaires.

How exactly these people have got hold of such vast wealth in such a short time is a very good question, and one many ordinary Russians would like answered.

It is one reason why Russia's richest people like to keep their identities and their lifestyles secret.

Secret city

Ever since I arrived in Russia I've heard tall stories of a secret city deep in the forests outside Moscow where the rich indulge their fantasies in sprawling palaces of marble and gold. It sounded like a good story. I didn't expect it to be true, let alone that I'd get an invite.

Russia's 'secret city' is lined with huge mansions

It came via a rather circuitous route. The sister of one of my colleagues in the BBC Moscow bureau is in the same class as the 18-year-old daughter of one of Russia's richest men.

For some peculiar reason Svetlana, not her real name, thought it would be fun to invite a BBC television crew to film her parents' country cottage.

That's what they call them in Russia: cottage. If that brings to mind white-washed walls, a thatched roof and climbing roses, then forget it.

We had agreed to meet Svetlana at a shopping mall on the edge of Moscow. Up she swept in a purple Maserati sports car. Out jumped her hulking bodyguard, dashing round to open the door for her. I don't know what I was expecting to emerge, a leggy blonde dripping with diamonds and brimming with self confidence I suppose.

Instead, out stepped a diminutive, dark-haired woman, painfully shy, and dressed like a secretary, albeit one who shops at Prada.

Her crew-cut bodyguard looked me up and down, clearly horrified at the prospect of this grubby journalist scuffing the beautiful cream leather interior of Svetlana's Maserati. There was immediate relief when I suggested I follow in the BBC's beaten up old Peugeot.

Different world

The first signs of the secret city were enormous green fences, at least 20 feet (6 metres) high, and topped off with closed circuit cameras.

The billionaire's daughter describes this Japanese-style house as her 'shed'

Then ahead of us at the end of a long forest flanked road a gap appeared in the fence. As the Maserati approached the gate swung opens and we swept through.

Suddenly we plunged out of the forest, and in to a different world. It was a little like a scene from Doctor Who. One minute we were in Russia, the next in Beverly Hills.

On either side of us huge mansions stood in spacious grounds. Some looked vaguely Georgian, others Victorian, one like a Bavarian castle. Vitaly, the BBC driver, turned to me, his face deadpan. "When did we cross the border?" he asked.

Svetlana's "cottage" was a spectacular 3,000 sq m Art Deco pile. How big is that? Big enough for an indoor swimming pool, a cinema, a bowling alley, a ballroom, and the piece de resistance, its own indoor ice rink!

"This is our newest house," Svetlana told me as we walked past a large bronze sphinx in the gardens. "My father's been building it for five years."

She wasn't sure how much it had cost, "probably 20 million," she guessed.

"So how many other houses do you have?" I asked.

"A couple in Moscow, two in the south of France, and one in Corsica," she said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

She shops in Paris and Milan, where she flies on one of her father's private jets.

Gilded cage

All these toys have not made Svetlana a happy girl.

"I live in a gilded cage," she told me. "I have no friends and no freedom."

I did feel sorry for her, but only a little.

A mile down the road, firmly back in Russia, I went to see Mrs Rima. The 75-year-old showed me around the one-room shack she built with her own hands.

She survives on a pension of £60 a month.

I asked her what she thinks of the rich people who live behind the high green walls.

"They're all thieves," she said. "All that money is stolen from the people."

It's a view millions of Russians would agree with. Fifteen years ago everything in Russia was owned by the state. Today a quarter of Russia's economy is owned by 36 men.

Seventy years, and he's still shining

Jack Nicholson is 70 today and, for 50 of those years, he has been making movies. Here, friends and colleagues in film - from Dennis Hopper to Danny DeVito - talk about the Jack they know, a private, brilliant man with a famous wild streak, while Philip French salutes a truly great actor [more from The Guardian]

Time to make popcorn

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), the former mayor of Cleveland who is seeking the 2008 Democratic nomination for president for the second time, has selected a date to introduce articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.

A source who asked to remain anonymous told RAW STORY that the articles of impeachment would be introduced next week.

"The Congressman plans to introduce the articles on Wednesday, April 25th," the source told RAW STORY.

The Congressman's office responded in an e-mail Thursday afternoon to RAW STORY by saying "No comment" when asked if the report was true.

Mary Ann Akers reported at her blog, The Sleuth, on Monday that the Congressman had sent a "dear colleague" letter to fellow Members of Congress informing them of his plan to introduce the articles of impeachment against the Vice President. However, he had postponed the plan in the wake of the killing of 32 students, faculty, and staff at Virginia Tech on Monday.

Multiple congressional offices confirmed to RAW STORY that they had received the letter, but none had been apprised of the impeachable offenses with which the Ohio Democrat would charge the Vice President.

Additionally, a spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee, which would receive and consider Kucinich's charges against the Vice President once they are filed, was not yet aware of them.

Vice President Cheney's office would not comment to the Cleveland Plain Dealer on the reports about the charges because they had not yet seen the articles.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Abolish the Connecticut State Police

The Connecticut State Police are up for International Reaccreditation. There is rampant Connecticut State Police Misconduct. I sent an email [click here for text] to help make sure the Connecticut State Police are not honored when their Organized Crime Syndicate should be dismantled. Abolish the Connecticut State Police, bolster town departments, enact Civilian Oversight of Police, monitor the courts installing cameras with audio everywhere, and form a Connecticut Highway Patrol.

Ritt Goldstein proposed Civilian Oversight of Police to the Connecticut Judiciary Committee at the Hartford Capitol, Legislative Section. Ritt soon fled to Sweden seeking political asylum after making the video above in Dec. 1996. Connecticut State Police can raped women and get away with, there is testimony. Police can help a husband beat his wife and the wife get arrested facing serious charges. The former Mayor of Norwalk Connecticut, Bill Collins, talks about how police officers throw their beer bottles on his porch vandalizing his home, terrorizing him. Other citizens were abducted by police wearing ski masks to be beaten at a waterfront abandoned factory.

The quality of the video sucks, but I have gotten emails where it is watched over and over, so viewers get every word.

I proposed Civilian Oversight of Police and was railroaded to prison. Before I was attacked on my property to be railroaded to prison, I wrote this letter to George W. Bush [click here]

A very short video of the properties the Connecticut State Police harassed and terrorized me out of:

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Maybe US President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and others wake up from a nightmare of having been placed in handcuffs, after a standard arrest, being hauled off to lock up to be fingerprinted, have their mugshots taken, to face trial.

That could be the current American Dream of maybe two thirds of Americans and probably the vast majority of the outside world. Bush and Co. should not be allowed to start, yet another war based on oil, greed, and the absolute abuse of power. These criminals have lied under oath taking office, cheat, steal, and cause death, destruction, and suffering, worldwide for profit. Let's throw a wrench in their Satanic Rituals.

Bush will have to stay in office to stay out of jail.

That means bombing Iran, declaring Martial Law, and not having elections in 2008.

Allowing elections in 2008 might mean that we see a President, Vice President, and other top officials behind bars in the US for the first time in history.

Prey that the honorable men and women who fought, suffered, and died in the name of freedom on countless battlefields all over the world didn't do so for nothing. Let us see the scumbags off to jail!-Steven G. Erickson aka blogger Vikingas

Vice President Dick Cheney's office was looking into news that Articles of Impeachment will be filed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich for crimes which have not yet been identified by the Democratic Congressman. The news appeared on a blog last night produced by the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.

"Cheney's deputy press secretary, Megan McGinn, said she couldn't comment on Kucinich's email because she hadn't seen it," wrote Sabrina Eaton at the Plain Dealer's blog "Openers."

She added, "Asked whether Cheney had done anything he could be impeached for, McGinn replied: 'The vice president has had nearly 40 years of government service and has done so in an honorable fashion.'"

RAW STORY also contacted McGinn yesterday, and was told that the Vice President's office would look into the question.

"This week I intend to introduce Articles of Impeachment with respect to the conduct of Vice President Cheney," Kucinich, who is running for president, wrote in a "dear colleague" letter to fellow Members of Congress. Kucinich noted that the actual charges themselves were "confidential" prior to their formal introduction to the House of Representatives.

Kucinich's congressional staff refused to comment on the subject, and his campaign staff told RAW STORY that only his congressional office could answer questions on the matter.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

So, it's not about oil?

The White House, already criticized for its connections to Big Oil, now is facing renewed questions over Chevron's decision to name an oil tanker for national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

The double-hulled giant, Condoleezza Rice, is part of the international tanker fleet of the San Francisco-based multinational oil firm, named several years ago in honor of Rice when she was a Chevron board member and stockholder.

Rice, the former Stanford University provost, served on Chevron's board from 1991 until Jan. 15, when she resigned after President Bush named her to the national security post.

But with California's energy crisis intensifying and human rights groups spotlighting abuses in countries where Chevron does business, critics say the tanker now poses serious diplomatic and ethical issues for Rice and the administration.

Even more sensitive, they say, is the appearance of a far too cozy relationship among multinational energy giants, Bush and his key advisers -- including Vice President Dick Cheney and Rice.

"It does underscore that there's never been an administration in power in this country that has been so close to a single industry -- in this instance, the oil-and-gas industry," said Chuck Lewis, who heads the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity, which first raised the issue of the tanker's moniker last month. "Look at the president and his background, the vice president (who is a former executive at Halliburton), (Commerce Secretary) Don Evans and his oil interests . . . and now this."

Rice is a respected diplomat, but "I don't think anyone recognized the extent of her closeness to a major oil company," Lewis said. "It's not every day that someone has an oil tanker named after her."

At a White House press conference this week, Bush spokesman Scott McClellan was asked if Bush should specifically request the Condoleezza Rice tanker be given a name change -- particularly since Chevron does business on six continents and 25 countries, and has been sued for alleged human rights abuses in Nigeria.

Last year, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charging Chevron aided Nigerian police in attacks on local communities protesting Chevron production activities. A company spokesman yesterday, however, said the incident involved 200 youths armed with machetes, guns and knives who attempted to take over an offshore oil platform, holding workers for ransom and refusing to allow them access to medical treatment.

On Tuesday, the question about the tanker came up at the White House briefing in connection with the incident in Nigeria. McClellan, the administration spokesman, repeatedly said the issue of the tanker had "already been addressed" by Rice, and added, "she will uphold the highest ethical standards in office."

A Chevron spokeswoman said yesterday that the oil giant has no intention of renaming the Condoleezza Rice and noted that board member Carla Hills also had a Chevron tanker named in her honor before she was appointed former President George Bush's trade secretary -- and the vessel has kept the name.

"It's part of a long-standing practice of naming (tankers) after members of the board of directors," a company spokeswoman said, citing other big ships named George Shultz, David Packard and Kenneth T. Derr.

Rice's office did not return repeated phone calls yesterday, but she told Fox TV last year that she has no regrets regarding her Chevron ties.

"I'm very proud of my association with Chevron, and I think we should be very proud of the job American oil companies are doing in exploration abroad, in exploration at home, and in making certain we have a safe energy supply," she said.

Lewis notes that both Rice and the White House have promised that she will recuse herself from any decisions directly involving Chevron.

"The problem is Chevron operates in dozens of countries all over the world, " he said. "She (is) going to be dealing with issues that are enormous interest to Chevron across the globe -- and you can't recuse yourself from everything."

Lewis said that while some have written off the Condoleezza Rice as a small and humorous footnote to the Bush administration, the danger exists that it could turn into more.

"From a public relations standpoint, they're desperately hoping this is one tanker that doesn't run aground," said Lewis. "That could be a problem."

Monday, April 16, 2007

Could Citizens with Legal Guns Prevent a Massacre?

Police failed on this one. They can't be everywhere to protect us. If a student or member of the faculty had a legal gun, was able to legally use it, and was willing to defend their life and that of others, this most recent tragedy could have had a death count in the single numbers and might have been prevented.

If citizens aren't allowed to defend themselves and are then critical of police not doing their jobs, things like [this] happen.

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (CNN) -- A gunman who killed at least 30 people at one of two shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech Monday was dressed "almost like a Boy Scout," said a woman who survived by pretending to lie dead on a classroom floor.

Two people were killed in a separate incident about two hours earlier around 7:15 a.m at a dormitory on the campus. University police Chief Wendell Flinchum said police were still investigating whether the two incidents are related.

At a press conference Monday afternoon, Flinchum did not rule out a separate shooter for the dormitory incident . (Watch the police chief explain where bodies were found)At the time of the later shootings at Norris Hall, police were investigating a "person of interest" in the dormitory shootings, Flinchum said. But the man -- a non-student who knew one of the victims -- had not been arrested, and it is unclear if he has any link to the other gunman, he said. [more from CNN]

* * * *

Should police officers get away with paying hit men to kill citizens that lodge police misconduct complaints? [more]

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Prosecutors out of order

The players, from left, Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty, maintained their innocence all along. The below from CNN found here

Duke case raises issue of victim anonymity

• Players publicly identified while now-discredited accuser was not• Most news organizations do not identify rape victims• Some may rethink that policy; victims groups hope they don't

NEW YORK (AP) -- In hindsight, it seems unfair. For nearly a year, three Duke lacrosse players were publicly identified as alleged sexual assailants, while their accuser -- whose claims are now discredited -- was shielded by anonymity.

But that double standard is the way of American journalism, and is unlikely to change any time soon, even though the Duke case is provoking a reassessment of the practice.

Although the accuser has now been widely identified -- on the Internet, in the major newspapers serving the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina, and elsewhere -- advocates for sexual-assault victims hope and expect the media to continue its voluntary, long-standing practice of not reporting the names of alleged victims who prefer anonymity.

"The Duke case is such an aberration," said Scott Berkowitz, board president of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

"After there was a thorough investigation and a conclusion that no crime took place, the accuser stops being a victim and it's perfectly appropriate to identify her," he said. "But I'd hope the press doesn't rush to change their overall policy on this -- that could have the short- term effect of discouraging certain victims from coming forward."

Karen Pomer, an activist in California on behalf of victims since her own rape at gunpoint in 1995, said it remained daunting enough for victims to report an assault without the added factor of knowing they might be publicly identified.

"Even though the man who assaulted me is now locked up for the rest of his life, there were times I really regretted coming forward -- it's not an easy thing to do," she said. "It's extremely rare that a woman comes forward and falsely accuses someone of assault."

Pomer recalled police treating her with disrespect and disbelief. And Berkowitz said many victims fear the loss of their privacy if they go public: "When they walk down the aisle of the supermarket, they don't want people thinking, 'There goes the rape victim.' "

Defense attorneys have a different perspective. Some hope the Duke case might prompt the media to review their current practices and switch to policies of identifying accusers as well as defendants.

"The criminal courts are not there to make victims more comfortable -- they are there to do justice to the accused," said Martin Pinales, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"Newspapers don't need to be politically correct, they need to be factually accurate," Pinales said. "The First Amendment is not there for the press to say, 'We're going to abide by self-imposed restrictions' -- the First Amendment is there for the public's right to know."

Asked whether abandoning anonymity might dissuade some victims from coming forward, Pinales said: "If anyone is a true victim of crime, they have nothing to be ashamed of." He suggested that prosecutors' offices should employ victims-rights advocates to help them deal with problems in this regard.

In the Duke case, virtually all major media outlets declined to identify the accuser as the saga unfolded. But that unanimity broke down Wednesday when North Carolina's attorney general dismissed all remaining criminal charges against the three lacrosse players and declared them innocent.

The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer of Raleigh swiftly posted articles online with the woman's name and photograph. The New York Post carried the woman's photo on its front page Thursday, with the tabloid headline, "The Duke Liar."

But other major media outlets, including The Associated Press and The New York Times, opted to continue withholding the name of the woman, a 28-year-old single mother of three who has worked a stripper, attended college and in 1996 filed a rape complaint that never led to charges.

The AP's managing editor, Mike Silverman, said the decision to continue protecting the woman's anonymity was reached after considerable discussion in the newsroom.

"Ultimately, we didn't see a compelling reason to reverse our practice," Silverman said. He said AP was continuing to try to talk to the woman and report the story and would review the decision further if developments warrant.

He also said the AP, perhaps in concert with other media organizations, would re-examine the anonymity policy on a broad basis, distinct from the particulars of the Duke case.

Melanie Sill, executive editor of The News & Observer, said her paper also would review its policy.

"It's worth taking a fresh look at, although I can't say we'll come down in a different place," Sill said.

CNN does not usually identify accusers in sexual assault or rape cases. Because the Attorney General of North Carolina has decided to keep the identity of the Duke case accuser confidential, CNN decided to respect that policy decision.

Some states have passed laws making it illegal to report the name of a sexual assault victim, but those laws have been struck down when challenged, and the practice of withholding victims' names is, in effect, an optional courtesy extended by the media. The practice has been undermined somewhat in the Internet age as accusers' names are spread online even while traditional media withhold them.

Joshua Marquis, the district attorney in Astoria, Oregon, and a vice president of the National District Attorneys Association, said prosecutors do not set out to keep the names of adult crime victims secret, but he commended the media for its voluntary policy.

"It's essentially self-restraint," he said. "There is still enormous stigma to being the victim of a sexual assault."

Kim Gandy, a former prosecutor and now president of the National Organization for Women, said she hoped the media would not change its practice because of the Duke case:

"The purpose is not only to protect the person making the criminal complaint -- it's to offer some sense of protection for any woman who might need to do so in the future," she said. "Once one woman is exposed, regardless of the reason, it has a chilling effect for every other woman."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

* * * *

Prosecutors responsible for acts such as the one in the story above, need to face arrests, handcuffs, lock up, and a trial. Until they do, the abuse will only continue. Most citizens don't have the power, influence, and money that the Duke students do. What about all those victims of the system?

Wednesday morning near 10 of the clock - Watertown. To all the friends of American liberty be it known that this morning before break of day, a brigade, consisting of about 1,000 to 1,200 men landed at Phip's Farm at Cambridge and marched to Lexington, where they found a company of our colony militia in arms, upon whom they fired without any provocation and killed six men and wounded four others. By an express from Boston, we find another brigade are now upon their march from Boston supposed to be about 1,000. The Bearer, Israel Bissell, is charged to alarm the country quite to Connecticut and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh horses as they may be needed. I have spoken with several persons who have seen the dead and wounded. Pray let the delegates from this colony to Connecticut see this. J. Palmer, one of the Committee of Safety.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

"Slow Kill" and "Fast Kill" of political "problems"

This "old method" of crowd control is expensive and labor intensive.

Killing and altering those in the way, has met the modern age

Plutonium 239 is very volatile when exposed to oxygen in the air. It will go through 5 changes in the air. A very minute amount ingested causes death. It is the ultimate assassin's stealth weapon. It can be used on individuals, and selected populations can be exposed.

It is now cheaper to kill populations than to govern or intern them. What do you think "frugal" authorities will choose in the future?

* * * *

The gun uses a large dish mounted on a Humvee vehicle

Microwave and "pulse" weapons are gaining ground. Making people forget, have false memories, or become "unmotivated" are used in military and civilian control operations. Ramping up the dosages causes death. [more]

City streets could be swept up of civilians that are microwaved, after "sizzling and popping" on sidewalks with ordinary earth moving equipment.

A method for getting rid of those leaders of the "inferior" races in the Ike era [click here]

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Jonathan Pollard

Excerpt: Exactly what information he gave to Israel has still not been officially revealed. According to Pollard he only gave information regarding Iraq's missile threats to Israel.[4] Press reports cited a secret 46-page memorandum, which neither Jonathan Pollard nor his attorneys have been allowed to view, provided to the judge by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, which described Pollard's spying as including, among other things, obtaining and copying the latest version of Radio-Signal Notations, a 10-volume manual detailing America's global electronic surveillance network[5][6]

Organized Crime or Government?

A "back-channel e-mail and paging system" used by Republican operatives has become a White House "headache" now that Democrats are demanding answers, according to a report in Monday's LA Times.

"When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment," Tom Hamburger writes. "The back-channel e-mail and paging system, paid for and maintained by the RNC, was designed to avoid charges that had vexed the Clinton White House — that federal resources were being used inappropriately for political campaign purposes."

According to the paper, "that dual computer system is creating new embarrassment and legal headaches for the White House, the Republican Party and Rove's once-vaunted White House operation," as "Democrats say evidence suggests the RNC e-mail system was used for political and government policy matters in violation of federal record preservation and disclosure rules."

"Some Republicans believe that the huge number of e-mails — many written hastily, with no thought that they might become public — may contain more detailed and unguarded inside information about the administration's far-flung political activities than has previously been available," the article continues.

One GOP activist tells the paper, "There is concern about what may be in these e-mails."

Excerpts from article:

#

Lawyers for the committees say that use of campaign-connected e-mail addresses may make it easier to gather information because it would be harder for the White House to make a broad claim of executive privilege. Lawyers for congressional Democrats have anticipated that the White House will invoke executive privilege in an effort to block requests for information about its role in the firing of U.S. attorneys, Abramoff and other matters.

....

Sosnik said only a handful of people used the political computers in the Clinton White House, which were purchased with campaign funds. However, he said, the political messaging from the Bush team appears to have been broader than that of Clinton's. He could recall no instance, for example, in which campaign computers or cellphones were used to communicate with the Justice Department.

Levine, the former Bush press aide, said he saw senior White House colleagues, including Rove and his top staff, moving fluidly between the two computer systems, which often sat on officials' desks along with their government computers.

#

Figuring out what they are up to now

you have to examine the past. The killing of leaders by the US, based on racism and greed was much more blatant in the past. Look how the US is rattling sabers against Iran now. What does Iran have that North Korea does not? How about Iraq, what do they have? Drugs pay for covert actions and wars, what does Afghanistan have?

Patrice Lumumba was an African anti-colonial leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after he helped to win its independence from Belgium in June 1960.

Excerpt: The Belgian Commission finds that Belgium had not actively sought the death of Lumumba by his transfer to Katanga, but did not show foresight either; he died within five hours of his arrival there. Neither did they try to establish his welfare at any point. Interestingly the same report mentions that there had previously been U.S. and Belgian plots to kill Lumumba. Obviously either they failed or they were abandoned. Among them was a CIA sponsored attempt to poison him, which may have come on orders from U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower.[4] CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb was a key person in this by devising a poison resembling toothpaste.[5][6][7] However, the plan is said to have failed because the local CIA Station Chief, Larry Devlin, had a conscience issue and did not go forward.[5][6][8]

Monday, April 09, 2007

Israeli organized crime and spy activities in the U.S.

Israeli heroin, ecstasy, and cocaine organized crime drug dealers have advantages street thugs don't. These criminals have complete access to tapping law enforcement phones. The data is controlled by Israeli companies. The entire US government could be bugged by Israeli Organized Crime. The Fox report brings up interesting points regarding Israeli Organized Crime possibly orchestrating the fiasco that was 9-11.

Bush continuing to read to school children when he was told the nation was under attack, what kind of dirt does Israeli Organized Crime have on Bush? If they do have dirt, does it involve some sex acts that are felonies in Texas?

Does Israeli Organized Crime run everything in the US, even the US government?

George Washington was probably the best spy organizer/propagandist ever. So what happened?

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

"I never in my whole life was affected with so much melancholy." -John Adams

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lies within Washington Square, one of the five public parks drawn up by William Penn in his 1682 blueprint for Philadelphia. Shortly after the square was laid out, however, it was being used for a wholly other purpose — as a potter's field. Burials in Washington Square, then known as Southeast Square, started in 1706 and continued for nearly nine decades. Initially located on Philadelphia's westernmost settled area, the square proved an out-of-the-way repository for the impecunious as well as a permanent residence for deceased "strangers" — those unknown visitors to Philadelphia whose stay proved to be longer than expected. [more]

* * * *Would Bush Co. cronies be overjoyed if they could lie us into a war with Iran? Would the windfall profits from $6 to $10/gallon gasoline be their ultimate wet dream? Gas pumps are now being installed with two digits for the dollars.-Steven G. Erickson aka blogger Vikingas

[click here] for a youtube video of modern war scenes with the theme from M.A.S.H., "Suicide is painless" playing in the background.

I was paying about $2000/month out of my own pockets to pay for the lodging and living expense of prostitutes Vicky Tamaro (Tomaro?), Lana Thompson, and Robin Pelc. I was not having sex with them, and the police were doing nothing. So I wrote Bush [this letter]

Police will pay $10,000 to informants to kill, discredit, set up, and assault those that make police misconduct complaints in Connecticut. I was labeled a "Big Mouth" [more]

[click here] for a post on the Connecticut State Police "Goon Squad" which includes pictures.

[click here] for an earlier Stark Raving Viking post on Ken Krayeske and the Connecticut State Police secret "Enemies List"

Kathleen is afraid! Give the sexist terrorists what they want! (Picture via.)

A number of people have sent me this op-ed by Kathleen Parker that the WaPo ran for no discernible reason. For those who don’t know who Parker is, she’s a class A Uncle Tom, a woman who figured out long ago that putting a female face on blatant misogyny is a lucrative career indeed. And, just like her forerunner Phyllis Schafly, she certainly doesn’t pull her punches when advocating brightly that violence is an appropriate response from men towards women who get out of line by having opinions, holding jobs, or whatever the man says she did that was wrong. She writes about rape a lot, and from what I can tell, she both never thinks it happens and the bitch had it coming. But I’ll get back to that.

This article in the WaPo makes me concerned that I’m going to see it pop up on some dipshit MRA site as evidence that American feminists both hate fathers and love fundamentalist Muslims. By the measure of the men like that, Parker could seem like a feminist, in that she is female and knows how to write and earns her own paycheck and quite possibly leaves the house wearing shoes. They can rest assured, however, that Parker is no feminist, and in fact, her fundie-loving, father-hating ways come strictly out of an urge to smack down feminists. Parker makes it clear that she has common cause with Muslim godbags, so long as the topic is Bitches: Why Don’t They Shut Up And Get Back To The Kitchen?*

On any given day, one isn’t likely to find common cause with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He’s a dangerous, lying, Holocaust- denying, Jew-hating cutthroat thug — not to put too fine a point on it.

But he was dead-on when he wondered why a once-great power such as Britain sends mothers of toddlers to fight its battles.

I have to wonder if, after publishing that beaut of a quote, the WaPo will run an article by someone saying, “The KKK is way off-base with their hating on black people, but they’re totally right about those Jews.” Maybe if the Wall Street Journal starts showing them up, maybe. Pardon me for being crass, but I suspect that Ahmadinejad’s deep concern about the well-being of mothers of toddlers comes across as coming from a place of bad faith opportunism, because if he really gave two shits about this woman and her toddler, he wouldn’t have held her prisoner. As his comrade on this subject, therefore, I suspect that Parker also doesn’t give a shit about this woman or her toddler, but just wants to use her false maudlin concern to remind us that Parker is firmly convinced that women poison the military with our stinky female essence, and that we probably attract bears, too. That said, the outright statement that mothers of toddlers shouldn’t be in danger calls into question the idea that Parker is promoting the notion that we can just kill off fathers willy-nilly and that’s not a problem.

Parker does realize that blatant father-hating is implied in her remarks. She ends up copping to it.

It is not fashionable these days to suggest that women don’t belong in or near combat — or that children need their mothers. Yes, they need their fathers, too, but children in their tender years are dependent on their mothers in unique ways.

There’s not enough space here to go into all the ways that this is true, but children (and good parents) know the difference even if some adults are too dim, brainwashed or ideologically driven to see what’s obvious.

What’s fascinating about this article is that Parker signs onto the feminist theory that rape is a tool of the patriarchy, that it is about power more than sex and about randomly punishing women for existing to create an aura of terror that affects all women and upholds male dominance. The only difference between her take on rape and the radical feminist one is whether or not that’s a good thing.

But more overt sexual aggression may be the product of something few will acknowledge, at least on the record: resentment.

Off the record, in dozens of interviews over a period of years, male soldiers and officers have confided that many men resent women because they’ve been forced to pretend that women are equals, and men know they’re not.

The lie breeds contempt, which leads to a simmering rage that sometimes finds expression in aggression toward those deemed responsible.

Targeting women isn’t excusable, obviously. It’s also not the women’s fault that they’ve been put in this untenable situation — exposed both to combat and to the repressed fury of sexually charged young men.

In sum, rape exists as a way for male dominance to assert itself. On this, Parker and the feminists agree. Where we differ is whether or not women should capitulate to terrorism. Parker is all for it, but then again, she makes her living supporting the patriarchy, so of course she’s going to be the first to demand that women give into the demands of rapist-terrorists. Understandably, those of us who find injustice a little less lucrative remain unconvinced.

*Extra credit discussion question: Do you think that Parker exempts herself on a technicality by writing barefoot in the kitchen? If so, that means that I’m a traditional woman myself, since the vast majority of my writing is done right here:

And no, I don’t generally put on sneakers just to write.

Not sure what these are for, but everyone is doing it:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

On a similar note, Phyllis Shafly’s latest missive from the op-ed page of the LA Times is equally repulsive. On a totally different note, what is with the op-ed page of the LA Times lately? First Gingrich on why immigrants must speak English and now this?

Think about it. What happens if the Religious right takes over and makes this a “Christian nation” to all these power hungry corrupt men like Delay, Gingrich etc who have committed adultry?They will ask for forgiveness from Jesus, but somebody will still have to be “punished”.My bet is that it will then become the women that tempted them.All taken care of. And the Kathleen Parkers of the world will agree!!!

Parker once wrote a column about how, as a divorced mother of a small child (don’t remember if the kid was a toddler or not), she got a nice old widow to watch her son for her and that kind of daycare is A-OK. She’s just another exceptionlist desperate for a book deal like Ann Coulter’s.

Parker once wrote a column about how, as a divorced mother of a small child (don’t remember if the kid was a toddler or not), she got a nice old widow to watch her son for her and that kind of daycare is A-OK.

Well that explains why she’s OK with sending guys off to get killed while women stay home - how are we going to get the widow/working mom ratio we need if all the menfolk stay home being all alive and shit?

Since when did the ComPost need a discernible reason to run gibberish? They’re making more and more of a habit of it. Why else to have Fred Hiatt, Charles Krauthammer, The Novakula, Dean Broder, Richard Cohen, et al? About the only credible writer they have is Froomkin.

Parker One: By letting women serve, we’re letting our servicemen get desensitized to rape! Rape is unacceptable, so obviously these women need to go back home and start on dinner.

Parker Two: By letting women serve, we’re forcing our servicemen to resent women, which means they have no choice but to rape. Rape is unacceptable, so obviously these women need to go back home and start on dinner.

Well that explains why she’s OK with sending guys off to get killed while women stay home - how are we going to get the widow/working mom ratio we need if all the menfolk stay home being all alive and shit?

Besides, if we have all those women showing they can shoot guns and fly helicopters just like men, we’ll be continuing to “geld” American men and the manly-man Parker jacks off thinking about won’t be quite so plentiful.

Parker’s comments remind me of a book called Colonial Citizens in which one of the main themes was that the French and Syrians used women, particularly their uncovered bodies and public presence, to play out their colonial power struggles. Each side claimed to be protecting women by restricting their dress, movements, and employment. The dynamic in the current situation seems quite similar.

Parker and Ahmadinejad are doing the same thing. It’s not concern for actual women, it’s about who has control. Ahmadinejad will probably use recent events to argue about the immorality of the West and more tightly control the behavior of Iranians. Parker will agree it represents the West’s immorality and advocate a similar control of American’s behavior.

It’s frightening how much the American far right has in common with the Iranian president

There’s not enough space here to go into all the ways that this is true, but children (and good parents) know the difference even if some adults are too dim, brainwashed or ideologically driven to see what’s obvious.

I think this sentence encapsulates the whole column quite nicely. “You’ll agree with me because I say so, bitches!”

Most of them were around 20 years old. The 588th began training in Engels, a small town north of Stalingrad. In a few months, the women were taught what it takes most people four years to learn.…From the battle of Stalingrad to the fall of Berlin, the regiment made 24,000 combat flights and dropped 23,000 tons of bombs. It was awarded the Soviet Union’s highest collective military honor. Years after the war, Nadia Popova said, “At night sometimes, I look up into the dark sky, close my eyes and picture myself as a girl at the controls of my bomber and I think, ‘Nadia, how on earth did you do it?”

But then, I suppose it’s cheating to mention facts and logic to a pundit…

Hey, if anyone has any “Greatest Hits” of Kathleen Parker’s, post ‘em here. I’m starting a Wikiquote page on her, and would be interested in the wackiest stuff she’s ever said. Given how nicely the Phyllis Schlafly page turned out, I hope to continue quoting and sourcing all kinds of weird crap that folks on the right say.

(If you want to just paste them in yourself and haven’t used Wikiquote before, please do so in the ‘unsourced’ section. I’ll clean them up and use the proper markup to source them.)

My favorite stance on rape. Always gives you a clear idea of just what (lack of) mentality you’re dealing with.

“…children in their tender years are dependent on their mothers in unique ways.

There’s not enough space here to go into all the ways that this is true…”

Translated: Aside from gestation, there is nothing a child in its tender years can’t get from any other human being on earth other than its mother, but hopefully I can weasel out of having to admit that by pretending I am about to run out of column space. Hopefully nobody will notice how I continue to blab on after this for several hundred words after this.”

“…children in their tender years are dependent on their mothers in unique ways.

There’s not enough space here to go into all the ways that this is true…”

Wingnuts are very, very fond of pointing out how important fathers are to protecting daughters’ virtue. So by this logic, just as we should not send mothers of toddlers to war, we should not send fathers of teen girls.

Off the record, in dozens of interviews over a period of years, male soldiers and officers have confided that many men resent women because they’ve been forced to pretend that women are equals, and men know they’re not.

They’ve been “forced to pretend” women are equals, and they “know they’re not.” Subtle. Also, “men” know this, not just rapists.

This is a great post; especially brilliant is how you show that Parker proves the feminist point about rape, though in much more vile and hateful language than most of us needed.

And now, a series of unserious interjections–

Mmm…stinky female essence…

Bombay Sapphire and tonic water–very nice. If you buy the little cans or bottles, though, what you don’t drink of the tonic water won’t go flat. Of course, if you buy a bigger bottle, then you pretty much have to go through it all that night.

Animals’ delightful lack of irony is illustrated by the cat sitting in the sink, seriously pondering something or other, completely unaware that there’s anything even remotely humorous about a cat perched in the sink like some kind of pillbox.